Gone to wallet.google.com recently? Notice anything... missing? Like most mentions of "Wallet"? If so, you're not the only one! In fact, if you go to payments.google.com, the same page launches. And if you go to your settings on that page, there is a hilariously confusing mix of references to both Google Wallet and Google Payments. For example: there's a toggle box for accepting Google Wallet to receive commercial transactions. Yet there is also an option to set your Google Payments PIN, which is clearly the new name for your Wallet PIN, as well as an option to receive special offers from Google Payments (which were previously special offers from Wallet). The Wallet (or Payments!) site itself also doesn't have any Wallet branding anymore aside from areas where Wallet is explicitly referred to, like the Wallet balance, and there's even a full Google Payments support portal now.

Wallet still exists, because it's an Android app for tap & pay and you can store a Wallet balance to use Wallet-only features (... like tap & pay). Wallet also allows you to send money to other Wallet users, but presumably this is a Wallet feature only because the money being transferred goes into the receiving party's Wallet balance and Google doesn't want to rename that to something else.

If this sounds terribly confusing and vague, don't worry: it is. It's clear even Google doesn't understand what its payment products really are or what they're supposed to do, because we're up to god damn four of them: Google Wallet, Google Payments, Android Pay, and Google Hands Free. All of these things do slightly different things, but all of them also serve the same basic purpose of transacting with a third party using fiat currency. In order to help you understand the new hierarchy, I've constructed a helpful flow chart.

We've reached out to Google for clarity on the changes, and will update this article if and when we receive a frustratingly unclear response.

Google has confirmed to us that Wallet will be re-branded primarily as a money transfer service, and will no longer process in-app or online payments, and that Google Payments will pick up the management and overview aspects of Wallet's functionality. It was also implied that Android Pay will replace Wallet on Android devices for tap & pay and other purchase functionality. So yes, this is all still needlessly confusing.

You'd really think they'd have taken extra care with the service(s) that handle money. That just seems like a no-brainer of things not to fuck up.

Alex

I did open up a chat a few days ago and ask-- I was told straight up, the service is now called "Payments" and they made the change a week ago. I was definitely confused. I should have copied the conversation, but this was also the follow-up email I got after the chat--

Hi, Alex.

Thank you for contacting Google payments service! This is a follow-up email on what we have discussed over chat today.

To recap, you reached us about Google payments.

We used to call "Google's payments service" a "Google Wallet account." It's the same thing. Google's free payments service securely stores your information so that you don't have to enter their billing and shipping details each time they shop. We've changed it a week back as we're trying to enhance it to make it more easier and more clear for all our customers.

If you have any more questions, please reply to this email or let my team call you. We're happy to help!

Probably what Google's internal workflows look like too seeing how slowly Hangouts is being developed from a consumer standpoint. :|

dcdttu

OMG I just paralleled this to Hangouts too. We are the same.

Jordan Smellie

David, I am so goddamn glad you write for this site. Some of your stuff is straight fire.

TJ

Thank you for the flow chart. Made things quite clear! I would have understood what's going on even if you would have just attached the flowchart to the article without writing anything. That's one hell of a flow chart. Google should use that flowchart in I/O 2016.

Eric Vaughan

I also just found out today that Google Wallet no longer allows you to send money to other people using a credit card. Looks like it was an unannounced change back in April.

I tried to invoice a client for freelance work and they were denied. ugh.

lzdking

I just did this a couple of days ago.
I added money from my Credit Card to my wallet balance and then sent money from my wallet balance to a friend.
I didn't try to send it directly from my credit card though.

Blendi Krasniqi

Google payments is going to be like paypal, to pay stuff online with your computer, and it has all your credit cards information. Android Pay is the android version of google payments to pay stuff with nfc or inside apps. And Google Wallet is going to be used to send money to your friends.

That sounds plausible. As long as we're on the same page about NONE OF THESE THINGS ACTUALLY NEEDING SEPARATE NAMES.

Kaptain75329

AMEN.

Edit: *all* of these services and functions can be handled just fine under the Google Wallet name and call it a day. There was never a need to rebrand; everyone understands what Wallet is and what it does. "Hangouts" on the other hand...

dcdttu

These naming conventions are about as bad as Dell's product names. Seriously, Google has to know this.

Azortje

Well, since Android Pay has nothing to do with Google wallet it makes sense to have two names right? Also Google payments is kind of different than Google wallet as you might link your Visa credit card to an Google payment account without having an Google Wallet. The question is if Google wallet should really be an separate app/entity as they could just name it Google Payments and include a balance (wallet) and transfer to friends function.

A part of me thinks they want to keep things separated as they always getting a hard time once they require more stuff than absolutely needed (e.g. Google plus for Youtube)

someone755

>We've reached out to Google

I hope you sent them the picture. This is gold.

Indianajonze

google: worst marketing company in history

Roh_Mish

Irony!

Aldrin Tauro

I'm guessing that "Android Pay" is what they're calling the underlying payment APIs in Android (sounds better than referring to it as Host Card Emulation). Apps can expose themselves as payment sources that work with Pay APIs (the Tap and Pay setting in KitKat/Lollipop is like a precursor to that), so your bank can allow you to tap and pay directly to your account through the token payment system without having to put in your debit card. Considering how Simple Bank's app on iOS adds itself to Passbook (or Wallet, I guess) after you enable the option in your account, I'm guessing Android Pay will work similarly. Wallet could remain as Google's app that takes advantage of Android Pay APIs.

Matthew Fry

HOW DO PAYMENTS WORK
WHAT IS MONEY
"free hands thingy I had a dream about."

WilkinsonJ

I'm glad Google Wallet is still alive (as of today). My Google password was stolen through LastPass and the attacker used my wallet to add $1100 that I didn't have from my checking account. I went through the Google Wallet phone support and they called my less than 1 minute after I submitted my phone number online.

dcdttu

Good lord, Google. Are you going to apply your Hangouts methodology to every product you design? Maybe you should just design a good product and then promote the hell out of it instead of this other, uh, method.